This invention relates to powered snow removing equipment, and more particularly, to a vacuum snow remover and a method of removing snow from roadways.
Over the years a variety of snow removing equipment has been developed for removing snow from roadways. Typifying such prior art snow removal equipment are those found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,642,895, 1,742,968, 3,464,128, 3,619,918 and 4,071,966. Such prior art snow removing equipment has met with varying degrees of success.
Conventional snow removing equipment typically utilize a burdensome scoop, mechanical shovel, plow, screw conveyor, auger, brush or the like to remove snow from the roadway as the vehicle is moving. The scoop, shovel, auger, etc. usually have sharp blades or scrapers which often create potholes and other permanent deformation and damage to the streets and curbs, which leads to costly road repairs. The snow is subsequently conveyed to the vehicle's tank via a chute by the momentum of the moving vehicle. Sometimes, the snow is conveyed through the combined action of the momentum of the vehicle and an auxiliary conveying source, such as a blower or fan. In conventional snow removing equipment which utilize a blower or fan, the blower or fan does not remove the snow itself from the roadway, but serves only to create a suction to transfer the snow after it has been removed by the scoop, mechanical shovel, plow, screw conveyor, auger, brush, etc.
Moreover, with some types of conventional snow removing equipment the snow is first plowed into piles taking up much needed parking space in outside parking lots and shopping centers. The piled snow is then loaded and lifted by the crew of a second truck into a dump truck (third truck) where the snow is hauled to and dumped in an open field. This procedure is inefficient and costly.
It is therefore desirable to develop an improved snow remover and method of removing snow from roadways.